Sunday, December 05, 2004

SPOONER'S CREEK, MOOREHEAD CITY, NC

5 December, 2004. This is an excellent anchorage, surrounded by million dollar homes and big money boats docked behind them. We had great wind, wake and current protection in the small basin here. We dinghyed to the tiny dinghy dock and walked 2 blocks to Wal-Mart. We bought a $5 lantern to use for our anchor light. Duncan and Stacey had given us 4 bottles of lamp oil so the lantern was definitely the way to go. Besides, a lantern could provide heat if we needed. This was the first time we used the dinghy to leave our anchored boat in order to reach the shore. Previously, we had only used the dinghy to remove, secure and work on the outboard. Although, at Turner's Cut, we took it out to float around and take some pictures of the boat. There was also a Lowes there as well as many other stores. It was very quiet and peaceful. We saw Barbara and Peter at the marina as we were pulling out. We had met them at Alligator River Marina a few days earlier. Just as we got back into the ICW, we ran aground but it was no big deal and we easily freed ourselves. The channel is very narrow in this area and the water depth drops to 2 and 3 feet just outside the markers. Shortly afterward, we were surrounded by dolphins, playing in our small wake and the wake of Barbara and Peter who had just passed us in their yacht. We saw even more dolphins later in the afternoon and were able to snap a few (poor) pictures. We also passed the Camp LeJeune Firing Range which apparently delays many boaters. We got lucky and the light wasn't flashing so we were able to continue through. They fire right across the ICW toward targets on the opposite shore.